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H. E. WELSH. COMBINATION TOOL.

No. 597,345. Patented Jan. 11,1898.

UNITED STATES PATENT rri'cn.

HAMILTON E. WELSH, OF COLUMBIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO '1. J. CLEPPER, OF SAME PLACE.

COMBINATION-TOOL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 597,345, dated January 11, 1898.

Apulioation filed May 1'7, 1897.

To all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HAMILTON E. WELSH, a citizen of the United States, residing at C0- lumbia, in the county of Lancaster and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Combination-Tool, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in combinatiomtools, such as are especially adapted for household use; and the object of the invention is to provide a device of this character of a simple and inexpensive nature, wherein is combined in a compact and durable form a plurality of devices adapted for combination and independent use.

The invention consists in a tool comprising a frame having an opening formed through it and adapted for the passage of a knife or the like, seats or sockets at the ends of the opening to receive the ends of the steel for sharpening a knife passed through said opening, the steel being arranged to extend across the opening in position to be engaged by the knife-blade, and devices at the ends of the opening to hold said steel in said seats.

The invention also contemplates certain novel features of the construction, combination, and arrangement of the several parts of the improved combination-tool, whereby certain important advantages are attained and the device is made simpler, cheaper, and 0therwise better adapted and more convenient for use, all as will be hereinafter f ully set forth.

The novel features of the invention will be carefully defined in the claims.

In order that my improvements may be the better understood, I have shown in the accompanying drawings a tool constructed in accordance with my invention, in which draw ings-- Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the improved tool. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section taken through the same and showing the means forholding the knife-sharpening steel and the paring-blade in place thereon. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the portion of the device which is adapted for use as a wrench or spanner for loosening nuts and the like. Fig. 4. is a transverse section taken through the socket or seat at the end of the knife-sharpening steel and showfieriel No. 636,989. on man ing the means for holding said steel in place in the socket or seat.

In the views, 1 indicates the body or handle of the tool formed, by preference, from cast metal, having at one end a projecting blade 2, adapted for use as a can-opener, the end of the body or handle adjacent to said blade 2 being provided with a shouldered portion 3, adapted to rest on the top of the can, so as to form a fulcrum for the device, for which purpose said shoulderis made rounded, as clearly shown in the drawings.

Adjacent to the blade 2 the body portion or handle of the tool is formed with parallel side portions 3 S, separated by a space or opening extending longitudinally of the body portion or handle, and one of the side portions 3 is made rounded in cross-section, while the other of. said side portions is provided with a series of projecting points or teeth at, extending longitudinally along it and located at the outer side or edge of the body portion or handle, so as to be adapted for use as a grater for grating ear-corn or as a fish-sealer.

5 indicates the paring-blade, which is arranged to extend longitudinally of the body portion or handle of the tool, being arranged over the opening between the side portions 3 3 thereof and having its sharpened edge portion arranged adjacent to the side portion 3 of the body portion or handle, which is rounded in cross-section and spaced apart from said side portion 3, so as to permit the parings to pass between the blade and the side portion and through the openings between the two side portions 3, as will be readily understood. The blade 5 is secured in place to the body portion or handle of the tool by means of screws or rivets 6 6 at its opposite ends, as clearly shown.

The end of the handle or body portion 1 of the tool opposite to the can-openin g blade 2 is formed with apointed projection 7 adapted for use as a screw-driver, and the end of the handle or body portion 1 adjacent to said projection 7 is also formed with a longitudinal opening or recess, the side portions 8 8 of. the handle or body portion on opposite sides of said recess or opening being curved or tapered, so that the end of the bodyportion or handle adjacent to the screw-driver 7 is larger than the opposite end portion of the handle, as clearly shown in the drawings.

One of the curved side portions b at the enlarged end of the handle or body portion 1 is formed with a series of serrations or shoulders 9 upon its inner surface, these shoulders or serrations being adapted to engage with the angles of a nut or bur, over which the recessed portion of the handle is applied, so as to permit the use of the tool after the fashion of a wrench or spanner-for turning nuts or bu rs, and on the side of the handle or body I portion 1 at which the paring-blade is arranged are formed thickened portions 10, located at opposite ends of the recess or opening formed between the curved side portions 8.

The thickened portions 10 of the handle or body portion 1 of the tool are provided with sockets or seats 11, arranged facing each other and located at opposite ends of the re cess or opening between the side portions 8, in which seats or sockets are adapted to be held the ends of a knife-sharpening steel 12, which may be of either a triangular or rectangular cross-section, thefaces of said steel being toothed or-serrated in the manner of a file, so as to adapt it for use in sharpening .knives and the like;

The ends of the steel 12 are removably held in the sockets 0r seats 11 by means of transversely-extending cars 13, which are formed integrally upon the ends of tools 14 and 15, adapted for use, respectively, as a gimlet and corkscrew, said tools being arranged adjacent to the opposite side portions 8 of the body portion or handle 1 and being adapted to fold down flat against said side portions 8, so as to be out of the way when not required for use.

As shown in the drawings, the tools 14: and 15 are each formed of a piece of wire or metal rod, the end of which is bent at right angles, so as to adapt it for passage through the openings in the side Walls of the socket or seat wherein the end of the steel 12 is held, and the free end of each of said tools is adapted to be held by the elasticity of the metal of whiehit is formed in engagement with the side surface of the thickened portion of the body at the end of the side portions 8 opposite to its pivot-point.

From the above description it will be seen that the improved tool is of an extremely simple and inexpensive nature and combines in a compact form a can-opener, screw-driver, fish-sealer, paringblade, knife-sharpener, wrench, corkscrew, and gimlet, and it will be seen that the construction of the device is such that the knife-sharpening steel is capable of being removed from the device and replaced by a steel of any form in cross-section, or in some cases it may even be desirable to make said steel removable, so that it may be used as a file after being separated from the body portion or handle of the tool.

It will also be seen from the above description that the improved tool is capable of considerable modification without material departure from the principles and spirit of the invention, and for this reason I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise form and arrangement of the several parts herein set forth.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is- 1. A combination-tool comprising a handle or body portion having side portions separated by an opening extending longitudinally of the tool, one of said side portions being formed with a series of projecting teeth or serrations adapted for use as a fish-sealer or grater, and aparing-blade extendinglongitudinally along the opening and having means for securing its opposite ends to the handle or body portion of the tool at the ends of said opening, substantially as set forth.

2. A combination-tool comprising a body portion or handle having side portions spaced apart to form between them an opening or vrecess adapted for the passage of a knife or the like, and a steel extending across the opening in position to be engaged by the knife to be sharpened, the side portions of the handle being bent toward each other and one of them being provided with a series of serrations or shoulders adapted for engagement with a nut upon which the recessed portion of the handle is applied for turning said nut, substantially as set forth.

3; A combination-tool comprising a handle or body portion having projecting portions formed with seats or sockets 'on their adjacent faces, a steel having its ends engaged in said sockets, a corkscrew having a pin fitted in one socket to hold an end of the steel therein, and a pin extending across the other socket and removably engaged therewith to hold the steel in position, substantially as set forth.

a. A combination-tool comprising a body portion or handle having thickened portions provided with sockets or seats on adjacent faces, a steel having its ends engaged with and removable from said sockets, and a tool having one end provided with a pin passed through one of the sockets to hold the steel engaged therein, substantially as set forth.

5. In a combination-tool, a body provided with a longitudinal slot or opening and with sockets or seats at the ends of said slot or opening, combined with a knife-sharpening steel having its ends fitted in the sockets or seats and extending across the opening or slot in the body, and means for detachably holding the knife-sharpening steel in position on the body.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

HAMILTON E. WELSH.

lV-itnesses SCOTT PATTON, ELLWooD Ooornn.

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